Tribeca Festival at 25: Robert De Niro and Jane Rosenthal reflect on the festival that helped rebuild downtown New York
Twenty-five years after the attacks of September 11 changed lower Manhattan forever, the Tribeca Festival is marking its milestone anniversary with a citywide celebration rooted in the same idea that launched it in 2001: Bring New Yorkers together through storytelling.
The festival, presented by OKX, announced a major slate of anniversary programming on Thursday that includes a public conversation with co-founders Robert De Niro and Jane Rosenthal, free outdoor screenings revisiting landmark Tribeca premieres, and — for the first time — public access to the Tribeca Festival Awards Ceremony.
The festival was “born to heal a city — conceived and built in just 120 days,” according to the announcement.
The centerpiece of the celebration will be “Tribeca at 25: A Conversation with Co-Founders Jane Rosenthal and Robert De Niro,” on Thursday, June 11 at 8:00 p.m. at the OKX Theater at BMCC TPAC. Moderated by filmmaker Matt Tyrnauer, the discussion will revisit the festival’s founding as “an act of civic renewal and radical optimism,” while exploring the defining risks, failures, pivots, and moments that shaped it into one of the world’s leading cultural festivals.
“The festival was an act of defiance. We had 120 days. Thirteen hundred volunteers. No money. No blueprint. Just an idea and a neighborhood that needed people back in it,” De Niro said. “This wasn’t just about movies — it was about whether downtown was coming back.”
Rosenthal described the emotional role cinema played after the attacks. “I fell in love with New York through the movies, and now, New York needed the movies to recover,” she said. “Stories help people understand each other in a divided world. That was our mission after 9/11, and it remains true today.”
The anniversary programming also includes “Tribeca at 25: Celebrating the Stories We Share,” a free outdoor screening series at the Public Square and Gardens at Hudson Yards. The retrospective revisits landmark premieres, audience favorites, and breakthrough discoveries that helped define Tribeca over the last quarter century.
The screenings begin Thursday, June 4 at 7:00 p.m. with “The Last Play at Shea,” a documentary celebrating the intersecting histories of Shea Stadium, the New York Mets, and Billy Joel — the final performer to play the stadium before its demolition. Directed by Paul Crowder and produced by Steve Cohen and Nigel Sinclair, the film combines personal interviews, archival footage, and Joel’s final Shea concerts, with appearances from Tony Bennett and Roger Daltrey.
Friday, June 5, at 7:00 p.m. brings a screening of “Guy and Madeline on a Park Bench,” the first feature from Damien Chazelle before “La La Land,” “Babylon,” and “First Man.” The black-and-white 16 mm romance follows two young lovers in Boston searching for connection after a breakup. The screening will be followed by a Q&A with producer Jasmine McGlade.
On Saturday, June 6, at 7:00 p.m., the festival will present “Best of Tribeca Shorts,” celebrating the festival’s Oscar-winning short film legacy. The lineup includes “The Queen of Basketball,” Ben Proudfoot’s portrait of basketball pioneer Lucy Harris; “Ripe!” from directing duo Tusk; and “Jane Austen’s Period Drama,” a comedic piece directed by Julia Aks and Steve Pinder.
Sunday, June 7, at 7:00 p.m. features “Jiro Dreams of Sushi,” celebrating both the documentary’s 15th anniversary and the 100th birthday of sushi master Jiro Ono. Directed by David Gelb, the film follows Ono’s pursuit of perfection at Tokyo’s Michelin-starred Sukiyabashi Jiro restaurant. Gelb will participate in a post-screening Q&A.
Monday, June 8, at 7:00 p.m. brings back “Let the Right One In,” the Swedish vampire drama directed by Tomas Alfredson that won Tribeca’s Founders Award for Best Narrative Feature in 2008 before becoming one of the most acclaimed horror films of the century. Based on the novel by John Ajvide Lindqvist, the film tells the story of bullied 12-year-old Oskar and his mysterious neighbor Eli, who happens to be a vampire.
Tuesday, June 9, at 7:00 p.m. features “Dior and I,” director Frédéric Tcheng’s behind-the-scenes look at designer Raf Simons creating his first haute couture collection for Dior. Tcheng will participate in a Q&A following the screening.
On Wednesday, June 10, at 7:00 p.m., the festival revisits “Virunga,” the Oscar-nominated documentary directed by Orlando von Einsiedel. The film explores the fight to protect endangered mountain gorillas in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s Virunga National Park while exposing illegal oil exploration and political instability in the region.
Thursday, June 11, at 7:00 p.m. includes “Little Woods,” the debut feature from Nia DaCosta, who later directed “Candyman” and “The Marvels.” Set in the fracking boomtown of Little Woods, North Dakota, the film follows two estranged sisters struggling to save their late mother’s home. DaCosta and producer Gabrielle Nadig will appear for a Q&A after the screening.
Saturday, June 13, at 7:00 p.m. brings “The Short History of the Long Road,” starring Sabrina Carpenter as a teenage nomad whose life changes after tragedy forces her to confront the idea of home. Director Ani Simon-Kennedy and producer/director of photography Cailin Yatsko will participate in a post-screening discussion.
The series concludes on Sunday, June 14, at 7:00 p.m. with “Ascension,” director Jessica Kingdon’s Oscar-nominated documentary examining modern industrial life and the pursuit of the “Chinese Dream” through observational imagery and large-scale cinematic visuals.
The celebration will include the Tribeca Festival Awards Night on Thursday, June 11, at 4:00 p.m. at Spring Studios. For the first time, limited public tickets will be available for the ceremony and cocktail reception, where De Niro and Rosenthal will present the signature Founders Award while competition winners are announced in narrative, documentary, shorts, games, podcasts, and audio storytelling.
Since its founding in 2001 by De Niro, Rosenthal, and Craig Hatkoff, the festival has generated more than $1 billion in economic impact for New York City while expanding access through free screenings, workshops, conversations, and programming in the five boroughs.
The festival also highlighted its history of large-scale public programming, including the 2014 Film for All screenings of “When Harry Met Sally” in all five boroughs, expansion of the Tribeca Drive-In series, and the decision during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021 to move entirely outdoors and make programming free citywide.
The 2026 Tribeca Festival runs June 3 through June 14 in New York City.
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